The Ridiculousness of Saudi Arabia and the UN Human Rights Council

I don’t understand how the world can stay silent with this kind of double-standard.

I don’t understand why so much of the world is willing to turn a blind eye to the oppression that weighs on the Middle East.

“Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shi’ite minority, was convicted on charges including taking part in anti-government protests and attacking security patrols. UN human rights experts have said that he was tortured and did not receive a fair trial.”

He was 17 years old when he was arrested.

“The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia is a signatory, forbids capital punishment for offences committed by people under the age of 18. However, all al-Nimr’s appeals against the death sentence have failed.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia was chosen to be head the UN Human Rights Council.

The head.

Of the UN Human Rights Council.

Are you following this?

But it isn’t just one instance:

“Saudi Arabia is one of the most prolific executioners in the world, putting more than 2,200 people to death between 1985 and 2015. Between January and the end of August 2015, it executed at least 130 people, almost half of them for offences that do not meet the threshold of ‘most serious crimes’ for which the death penalty can be imposed under international law.”

Most of us don’t say or do anything because this isn’t happening in our country—or even very close.

But if we aren’t fighting against these kinds of actions and taking a stand against what is wrong elsewhere in the world, who’s to say this won’t be knocking on our door sometime soon?